1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a swivel portable terminal, and in particular, to a swivel portable terminal including a device for detecting a rotation direction of a swivel body by applying a proper application on the terminal according to a rotation direction of the swivel body, and a method for detecting a rotation direction of a swivel body using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rapid development of the Information Technology industry has lead to development of portable terminals to the point where more than one terminal being used per capita have been recorded in certain regions. Terminal users are demanding smaller and lighter terminals offering more functions. In response, besides a basic communication function, the portable terminals are being equipped with various additional functions such as replaying music with high sound quality through an MP3 player, providing a multimedia broadcasting service through a Digital Multimedia Broadcast (DMB) module, or capturing an object and performing video communications through a high-quality Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) module and a camera lens assembly. Therefore, terminal providers are making efforts to integrate a plurality of individual modules within a single terminal, so that the terminals operate in various manners, and offer various functions.
Operationally, the portable terminal has evolved from an early bar type to a flip type, a folder type, and a slide type. Among those, the folder type terminal and the slide type terminal are being mainly used these days.
Besides the aforementioned types of terminals, terminals with sub-bodies operating in various manners are being released. A representative example of those terminals is one that includes a sub-body swinging around a predetermined axis. The terminal with the swinging sub-body allows convenient use of a desired function by, for example, rotating in a width direction an LCD module which is longitudinally disposed, or rotating the LCD module 90° or 180° around a length direction of the terminal. This type of terminal is called a ‘swivel terminal.’
Since the swivel type terminal is configured such that the sub-body is rotatable 90 or 180° with respect to a main body, the terminal can perform different functions according to its rotation direction.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical folder-type swivel portable terminal 100, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating rotation of a swivel body 120 of the typical folder-type swivel portable terminal 100 of FIG. 1. The swivel body 120 can be folded with respect to a main body 110, and can rotate around a length direction of the terminal 100. However, the folder type terminal in the description is merely an example, and the present invention may be applied to other types of terminals including swivel sub-bodies, such as a bar-type terminal, and a slide type terminal.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the typical folder-type swivel portable terminal 100 includes the main body 110, and the swivel body 120 foldable with respect to the main body 110.
The main body 110 includes a plurality of key buttons 111 as a data input unit, and a microphone unit 112 installed at a lower end thereof. The swivel body 120 includes a LCD module 121, a display device, on a surface facing the main body 110, and a speaker unit 122 at an upper end thereof. The main body 110 and the swivel body 120 are connected together by a predetermined swivel hinge module 10. The swivel hinge module 10 may be installed in both side hinge arms 113 and 114 installed at the main body, and a center hinge arm 13 interposed between the side hinge arms 113 and 114. The center hinge arm 13 may serve the same function as a fixed body (13 of FIG. 3) to be described later according to the present invention.
The folder type terminal 100 may include both a hinge module (not shown) for folding the swivel body 120, and the swivel hinge module 10 for swinging the swivel body 120 within the side hinge arms 113 and 114, and the center hinge arm 13.
Thus, the swivel body 120 can be folded with respect to the main body by pivoting on axis A as illustrated in FIG. 1, and can be rotated on an x-axis as illustrated in FIG. 2.
For example, the swivel body 120 can rotate clockwise or counterclockwise around the x-axis, and the rotation angle thereof may be 90° or 180°. If a camera lens module (not shown) is installed at a side surface of one of the side hinge arms 113 and 114, the swivel body 120 can be used in an image capturing mode, or a video communication mode according to a rotation direction in which the swivel body 120 rotates. For example, in order to use the image capturing mode, the swivel body must be rotated to be in an opposite direction to the camera lens assembly, while in the video communication mode, the swivel body 120 must be rotated to be in the same direction as the camera lens assembly.
However, the swivel portable terminal causes difficulties in use since a corresponding function is selected after the terminal has rotated due to the absence of a device for detecting the rotation direction in which the swivel body rotates.